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A message from Dan Brown, SEFS Director: Summer 2026
The end of the academic year is such a great time to celebrate the accomplishments and hard work of SEFS faculty, staff, and students. Even as we celebrate, we acknowledge some of the challenges we face.
Read moreSEFS Celebrates 2025-2026 Awards and Recognition
The 2025-2026 academic year brought well-deserved recognition for members of our school across teaching, research, service, and scholarship. These awards reflect the collective strength and persistence of a community committed to discovery, learning, and service.
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Alumni Spotlight: Matthew Aghai, CEO of Viridian Ecosystems
We’re excited to announce that our 2026 commencement speaker is recent SEFS graduate Matthew Aghai. Matthew received his PhD in 2025 under the mentorship and guidance of Greg Ettl, Sharon Doty and Jerry Franklin, among others.
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Historic Anderson Hall re-opens its doors after major renovation: a look inside the reopening
Anderson Hall, the longtime home of the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, has reopened to students, faculty and staff after nearly two years of renovations. The historic building features a more welcoming atmosphere, improved accessibility, upgraded technology and critical safety enhancements — bringing it in line with the needs of a 21st-century education.
Read moreSEFS Student Spotlight: Kira Stewart, Class of 2026
Kira Stewart is majoring in Bioresource Science and Engineering here at UW’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. She’s also a Student Ambassador at the College of the Environment, representing the BSE major and offering tips and insight to students curious about the degree.
Read moreSEFS Undergraduates Awarded Barry Goldwater Scholarships
For 40 years the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation has been supporting talented sophomores and juniors who aspire to become the nation’s next generation of researchers in science, engineering and mathematics.
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A message from Dan Brown, SEFS Director: Spring 2026
Just as it brings longer days, this spring brings several reasons to celebrate, even in the face of all that’s going on in the world. Preparations are underway for the SEFS community to welcome students and classes back to Anderson Hall in Spring quarter.
Read more2026 Sustaining Our World Lecture featuring Peter B. Reich — University of Michigan & University of Minnesota
On May 6, 2026 SEFS will welcome the Director of the Institute for Global Change Biology, Peter Reich, to the newly renovated Anderson Hall for our annual Sustaining Our World lecture series.
Read moreBreathing Nature In: How Our Environments Shape The Nasal Microbiome and Human Well-Being
The benefits of nature exposure for human well-being are well-recognized, yet much remains to be understood about the underlying mechanisms as to how these effects occur. Research out of UW’s Environment & Well Being Lab led by SEFS’ graduate student Connor Lashus is helping us close the gap in understanding the role that microbes in the human nose might play in the relationship between nature exposure and well-being.
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What remains after wildfire here on the wet westside?
In a warming world, research that informs forest management actions and forest resilience are more important than ever
New research out of the Harvey Lab and conducted by recent PhD graduate Jenna Morris builds foundational understanding of the effects of fire in wet temperate forests like the ones here on the westside of Washington state, building essential understanding of fire effects in forests shaped by infrequent and high-severity fires.